Aftershock summary : On Monday the 13th of June, Christchurch has been struck by two aftershocks. The first measured 5.5, which luckily allowed people to evacuate the red zone and many other locations before the magnitude 6 aftershock struck, minutes ago at a depth of 9km. Six people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries. Take also a look at our overview video as well as some selected videos. Click here to watch them in our Quake-TV.org channel (temporary out of service – we are working on a solution)

Picture courtesy The Christchurch Cathedral

UPDATE 16/06 09:45 UTC : Christchurch CathedralIt looks like the Christchurch Cathedral and the 1905 Catholic cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament will be demolished. For the catholic cathedral, arches supporting its surviving copper-clad dome were undermined in the June 13 tremors, the building’s management board said. The dome was one of a pair that crowned the renaissance-style building before the other collapsed in the February disaster.

The Cathedral’s Rose Window fell following two strong aftershocks that rocked the city on Monday June 13th. Over recent years the window has come to personify the Cathedral’s life and presence in the city. Sadly, its image is all that now remains. The stained glass panels and ornate surrounding stonework, lie shattered and broken at the foot of the steel bracing, placed in hope, to be its saviour. The west wall, where the window looked strongly out into Cathedral Square is itself almost gone. Only 25% remains. We do know that the 5.5 and 6.0 earthquakes have further seriously damaged the building. An Update on the extent of that damage will be posted when it comes to hand.

Earthquake-Report.com remark : It should be noted that churches are often made of masonry and are irregular structures which have major damage in many earthquakes. Similar damage occurred in the Newcastle 1989 earthquake in Australia, as well as in many other earthquakes in the CATDAT database.

UPDATE 15/06 04:49 UTC :
GNS Science seismologists have reclassified the 2.20pm LT aftershock as magnitude 6.338 with a depth of 6.1km, just 0.005 of a magnitude smaller than the February 22 earthquake which had a magnitude of 6.34 with a depth of 5.9km.
The earlier shake on Monday at 1.00pm LT was upgraded from 5.5 to 5.646 in magnitude and was 9.2km in depth.
The events concerning the 1 man killed in the earthquake will be investigated as there is some degree of doubt as to the connection between the death and the earthquake.

Image courtesy http://www.mauritiushot.com

UPDATE 15/06 04:32 UTC : Services details have been provided by Stuff, NZ media.Power: The number of houses remaining without power outside the central business district has dropped to 1500.Water: Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said water had been restored to 85 per cent of the city, but pressure levels varied. Water head problems are all over the place.Wastewater: It will be around 36 hours before engineers can fully assess the city’s sewage system. The main trunk sewer on Woodham Rd had been damaged, with the road above the sewer starting to collapse. While some sewage is reaching the council’s pump stations, residents should use chemical toilets or portaloos.Waste collection: Collections are still going ahead as normal.Roads: Sixteen roads are closed. The list is available on the Council website www.ccc.govt.nz. Rockfalls have been cleared from Evans Pass Road.Schools: Many schools are re-opening today – the full list can be found at www.minedu.govt.nz/EQNZ.Welfare centres: Cowles Stadium would operate as an information centre only this afternoon and will close permanently at 4pm today.

UPDATE 06:41 UTC : One man was killed and around 45 people sustained minor injuries according to the most recent casualty reports. The elderly man died when he was knocked off his feet by the force of the earthquake, and struck his head on the floor at an elderly home. It was a miracle that more people were not injured or killed from these two earthquakes. Thousands of homes remain without power and unfortunately, cold temperatures are making matters worse, with 2 or 3 people admitted to hospital as a result of hypothermia.
However, the economic situation can be described as dire. The Kiwi dollar and money market interest rates are both down. The chaos of rockslides, dust, traffic jams and collapsed buildings returned to Christchurch, with at least 50 buildings destroyed or severely damaged, and much liquefaction damaging cars and roads, as well as affecting eastern suburbs schools. The Christchurch cathedral lost more masonry, meaning that it will need to be pulled down if it is to be reconstructed. Dozens of people were also affected by rockslides.

UPDATE 18:55 UTC : There is no water east of Ferrymead bridge and repairs are expected to take several days, the council says.

UPDATE 09:05 UTC : All phone networks were experiencing congestion. Authorities have asked to avoid calling and to only use Text messages (taking less bandwidth)

UPDATE 08:13 UTC : Power was cut to 54,000 customers. More than 45,000 homes were heading into the night without power. Power to 9000 homes has been restored now (Riccarton, Ilam and Fendalton).

UPDATE 08:08 UTC : Christchurch’s historic Godley House has suffered serious damage in today’s 6.0 earthquake. Christchurch City Council last month confirmed the 130-year-old building would be demolished but had date had not yet been set for it to be pulled down. The Banks Peninsula building is owned by the council.

More masonry has fallen from the Christchurch Catheral in the afternoon’s second much larger quake, sending up large clouds of dust. Social media is also reporting major damage for the 2nd quake in many parts including fallen masonry, additional cracking and additional damage. There are also reports that another building in Lichfield Street has fallen down (has since been reclassified to major damage).

Line company Orion said power was out to approximately 54,000 customers across Christchurch following the 6.0 magnitude quake. About 10000 homes in the eastern suburbs and additional homes in other locations have occurred. Todays quakes have grounded all flights to and from Christchurch Airport.

The Art centre has also lost it’s historic clock from the tower.

UPDATE 1 – 13/06 – On Monday the 13th of June, Christchurch has been struck by two aftershocks. The first measured 5.5, which luckily allowed people to evacuate the red zone and many other locations before the magnitude 6 aftershock struck, minutes ago at a depth of 9km. Six people were taken to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries due to falling building material after the 1pm earthquake. In the second quake (with higher magnitude), no injuries were recorded, however more damage occurred.

Two men who had been salvaging windows from the St Johns Church in the central city have received cuts and bruises and were taken to hospital. The front of the church on the corner of Hereford and Madras Streets collapsed. Some roads and bridges were closed due to further damage or liquefaction.
St John Ambulance said several ambulances were operating in the city and some were on stand by.
A policeman said a building on the corner of Stanmore and Worcester streets had collapsed, however has not been classified as an entire building collapse. Emergency services also rescued two people from St John’s Church in central Christchurch.

An aftershock measuring M5.5, was measured near Christchurch yesterday evening, but we have had to wait tilnow to report that it has been classified as CATDAT ORANGE. This has been the 6th largest aftershock since the February earthquake.

MMI of 7 (damaging) has been reported in 3 areas, with unconfirmed reports of further damage to existing damaged buildings. An MMI of 6 was also reported in many localities (83 reports from NZ Geonet), corresponding to slightly damaging. It was felt across the South Island.

Fay Burson, who is the manager of bottle store Henry’s in Rolleston, said she probably lost more stock during today’s shake than in February’s magnitude-6.3. “It was a very severe initial jolt”. Read the stuff report here.

The economic loss of this quake will be impossible to calculate but will be over $100,000 USD.

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